#1 | November 2018 | US Edition | thefloow.com
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Quarterly Magazine by The Floow
In this edition 04 - 05 Letter from our CEO: Aldo Monteforte 06 - 11 The Future of Risk: A Customer Centric View by Rebecca Bell 12 - 17 The Floow Looks Towards Fleets with Their New FloowFleet Platform 18 - 21 The Floow in Chicago: The Lowdown on our Time at Connected Car Insurance USA 22 - 23 Liberty Short-Term, in Partnership with The Floow, Launches Groundbreaking Telematics Proposition with a Focus on Customer Engagement 24 - 29 Meet our US Team Who Are Working to Deliver Success with Telematics Across the Market
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WELCOME
Welcome to Driven, The Floow’s quarterly business update publication for the US market.
We are The Floow, a leading telematics service provider delivering solutions to insurance companies, auto manufacturers and fleet operators worldwide. Our capabilities comprise of excellence in data science, cutting-edge technology and the innovative use of social science to provide unique safety insights to the benefit of our partners and their policyholders. We were founded in 2012 by CEO Aldo Monteforte, CIO Dr Sam Chapman and CTO Paul Ridgway with the mission to make mobility safer and smarter for everyone, a mission which still drives everything we do today. Over the last 1218 months, we have seen significant growth and opened our first office outside the UK in Detroit as we continue to showcase our commitment to the US market.
From left to right; Paul, Sam & Aldo
With Driven, we want to share not only our new products and the industry events we will be attending, but to use this as a platform to demonstrate our innovative nature and forward thinking in the areas of insurance, mobility and road safety. This is why we will be focusing heavily on how we see the future of mobility unfolding, what we are working on to ensure we
The Floow North America 20300 Superior Rd. Suite 250
are ahead of the curve, and how we are working
Taylor, MI 48180 USA
with our partners to make sure they are ready
+1 855 447 9252
for the challenges this fast-changing market will bring. The future of mobility and insurance is uncertain,
info@thefloow.com www.thefloow.com
but extremely important; make sure you’re one step ahead with Driven.
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etter from our CEO: L Aldo Monteforte
“I always felt America to be a special place where the impossible can happen.”
I grew up in Italy in the 1970s and 80s. As a young boy, America was brought to me via my small, grainy TV set and personified by such memorable characters as Starsky & Hutch, Magnum PI and The Dukes of Hazzard. It felt like the place to be. Aged 18, I was ready for the real thing and travelled across the US on an unlimited air ticket offered by NorthWestOrient, a now defunct air carrier. I travelled state to state, visiting every corner of the country, meeting many people as I filled up at gas stations. Sometimes they brought me into their homes and treated me like a longlost family member. Later, I studied at Stanford University in California in what I still consider to be the happiest time of my life. I always felt America to be a special place where the impossible can happen. At The Floow we’re proud to be expanding our incredible team here in the US and supporting our growing client roster from our beautiful Michigan base. We’re grateful for your generous embrace, which hasn’t changed since I first visited but is all the more exciting today as the USA is the single most important and dynamic market for telematics anywhere in the world. And so I am delighted to share with our American family the first issue of Driven, which will be a regular update on telematics projects, innovation and ideas. I hope you enjoy the read. Let me know what you think!
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The Future of Risk: A Customer Centric View Article written by Rebecca Bell At a recent conference, an insurance executive described this as being the most disruptive era our industry has seen in the last 35 years. Those comments are not made lightly. The business model of risk as we know it is changing, driven by a number of immutable forces: digitization, big data, the development of new vehicle technology and connectivity, the rise of the connected consumer, changing vehicle ownership patterns, and major shifts in mobility habits. And for an industry where managing and minimizing risk is the core of your business, these are indeed challenging times. I want to explore one of these forces - the rise of the connected, empowered consumer - and reflect on how as an industry we can turn the challenges it presents into potential opportunities for growth and differentiation.
The empowered consumer When I first got my driving license, I saw automobile insurance as nothing more than a driving tax. I was young, sure of myself and the very last thing I thought would happen to me was a collision or an incident where I had to file a claim. I am certainly not alone. Few drivers think it will happen to them. And from our research and work with clients across 5 continents, drivers in
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most markets share one opinion: most of them have a pretty high opinion of their own driving skills and capability. So the relevance of paying out cash for an incident that you think probably won’t happen to you is far from compelling to most people. At the same time, and apologies for the awful pun, the consumer has been thrust into the driver’s seat. And it’s technology that’s doing this. There’s literally an app for everything. Smartphones give you access to insights about anything, and services to help you do almost every task, are literally right at your fingertips. And it can all be personalized. I can order my pizza my way, tailor my vacation and get my work done without ever having to speak to a person if that’s what I choose. So is it any wonder that a consumer’s expectation for convenience, fairness, cost-effectiveness and transparency might start to influence their insurance experience too?
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“Our research shows that in the lowest decile drivers, when regular, small value rewards are offered, driver scores increase by as much as 54% compared to offering an insurance discount at the policy renewal. That’s significant.”
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Rise of the Insurtechs So with the rise of the empowered, expectant consumer, there’s a gaggle of creatively minded, consumer-centric start-ups and insurtechs ready to respond. Sick of paying insurance for trips you’re not making? That’s OK, just pay for what you use. Frustrated with your insurance premium influenced by ‘other people’s driving’? That’s OK, with telematics we can tie your individual behavior to the price you pay in a way that’s fairer and reflective of reality. Want to see your loyalty and safe driving rewarded? That’s OK, your premium will decrease if you stay loyal to us and your loyalty will unlock plenty of other benefits that you’ll value too. Fearful that your insurer will hassle you if you have an accident? In-car
you can also put a utility app into the hands of your policyholders with the opportunity to create value and relevance like never before. And the potential penetration of this engagement tool is incredibly high - in the US, Pew Research and Statista both put smartphone penetration in the adult population at 77%, with Pew estimating that 94% of 18-29 year olds own a smartphone. In younger demographics, the smartphone is now the primary device used for all search and web productivity, overtaking desktop by quite some distance. But getting space in prime smartphone real estate isn’t easy. The exponential growth in video and photos means storage is a becoming a premium. It’s incredibly easy to add and delete
tech, dash-cams and easy-to-use claims tools will simplify the claims process and provide vital evidence for a fairer outcome. Policyholders can now be more demanding of a transparent, rewarding relationship with their insurers. But the question is, does this new age of an empowered policyholder put the insurer at a disadvantage when it comes to managing a profitable relationship? The short answer is no. This new era of connectivity and personalization of relationships hands insurers opportunities like they’ve never had before to engage with policyholders.
The Smartphone Era In our case at The Floow, we are convinced of the power of the smartphone in this dynamic. By using a smartphone app not only to monitor trips,
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apps that don’t deliver value to free up space, and that value has to be felt tangibly in one of the following areas: •
seeking pleasure and avoiding pain
•
seeking hope and avoiding fear
•
s eeking social acceptance while avoiding social rejection
Social science research suggests the act of simply monitoring a trip is enough to provide a slight uplift or improvement in driver behavior, but what if we were to create an app-based engagement tool which helps the driver tap into one of these emotions more deeply? The realization that their driving may be less impressive than thought could help policyholders avoid the financial cost (and possible social rejection) of being a bad driver. The driver may seek hope that they could improve their behavior to deliver them a safer driving profile, and in the process, save some money.
Improving Driver Behavior via App-based Rewards Our experience has shown those drivers who check their score weekly show significant improvements in driving behavior, and when added with an element of rewards for safe driving and behavioral improvements, we see a sustained uplift in driver scores. Rewards are evidenced to be significantly more effective than insurance discounts alone in encouraging score improvements. This feels counter-intuitive considering the value of a driver discount is usually worth much more than a free coffee once
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“By using a smartphone app not only to monitor trips, you can also put a utility app into the hands of your policyholders with the opportunity to create value and relevance like never before.” per month. Our research shows that in the lowest decile drivers, when regular, small value rewards are offered, driver scores increase by as much as 54% compared to offering an insurance discount at the policy renewal. That’s significant.
March of the Bots In younger demographics, there’s evidence that people want self service and prefer to do most tasks on the smartphone without ever having to speak to a person. A Forrester survey found customers are using mobile applications as the preferred method to quickly get answers and service resolution without waiting on the phone until a customer service rep becomes available. But if customers don’t get quick answers to their questions, they will go elsewhere. This is a major reason for the adoption of chatbot based technology in customer service businesses, including insurance. According to Gartner, by 2020 the average person will have more interactions with a bot than with their spouse, and 85% of all customer interactions will take place without a human. That’s a colossal shift, but one
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that offers considerable margin gains for insurers if they are able to adopt the technology in the right way to facilitate those ‘moments of truth’ during the policy lifecycle when policyholders need help most. Elsewhere in this publication you’ll read how our partner Liberty Short-Term is using a chatbot to accelerate the quoting and registration process and provide supportive feedback to the driver after completing trips. All of this can live in the app, or those conversations can transition seamlessly between different tools, such as WhatsApp or Messenger. Whether it’s a chatbot or a person delivering the service, it’s got to be right because today’s consumers aren’t afraid to switch. Or to put it more positively, embracing a successful customer experience will deliver tangible business value. According to a Walker study, when compared to their peers, the top companies leading in user experience outperformed the S&P index by 35%; by 2020, customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator.
The Predictability of Smartphone Use One massive problem with the smartphone is that people just can’t leave them alone, even while driving in the car. There are countless examples of how smartphone distraction has led to accidents and deaths, leading to regulatory changes to discourage usage. At The Floow we test the correlation between smartphone use and the likelihood for claims via our ‘Distraction’ score. We have found this to be the single most predictive score that we measure. This presents
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he considers himself a better and safer driver than many older license holders. Addressing this problem is squarely where telematics has positioned itself, and as the auto market continues to harden and rates rise, this is a welcome solution for drivers both young and old. And it’s certainly true that the promise of fairness of being priced for your behavior rather than your demographic profile - is a psychological benefit in an industry which is often accused of not being fair to the consumer. Photo by Fabio Spinelli on Unsplash
an unexpected benefit from using the smartphone as a telematics sensor that you simply can’t get from an OBD device, fitted device, or even a fully connected vehicle.
So Where Could All This Be Going? If you accept the thesis that the connected consumer’s life is centering around the smartphone and that it presents many benefits for safety, fairer pricing and brand engagement, the big question is where could all this be going for
Price Me Happy
the insurer? Setting aside the complex enabling
All of these techniques can drive engagement and deliver convenience and value for the policyholder. But what about the topic of pricing and fairness? If the rise of the empowered consumer has created anything, it’s a degree of challenge to traditional business models that
challenges for a second, I don’t think it’s
have ‘always been that way’ in favor of new ways of doing things that are inherently ‘fairer’ and more convenient to the consumer. The classic business school example of this is the case of Uber and AirBnB which have democratized their respective markets by putting power and choice into the hands of the consumer via the promise of fairer prices and greater transparency. I was looking at Twitter today and saw one young driver complaining about his high premium as
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business models and scoring standardization unimaginable to contemplate a future where telematics could help to identify a unique driving ‘fingerprint’ for each policyholder - your own unique driving DNA. This would enable insurers to price with confidence, and drivers to consider their auto insurance policy as something that’s both fair and useful. Whatever the future holds, the winners in this marketplace will be those who effectively embrace the valuable benefits of insurance and can at the same time knit together strategies for customer engagement and relevance. The Floow is excited to be working with partners to help to make that happen.
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How FloowFleet is The Future of Small Fleet Management Article written by John Kramer
The combination of more people on the road driving more annual miles, coupled with the ever increasing problem of distracted driving, means that accidents are proving to be higher in both frequency and severity. According to the US Occupational Health and Safety Administration, on-the-job vehicle accidents cost employers an average of $74,000, while the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the leading cause of workrelated deaths is automobile accidents. As a result, commercial insurers have reported seven consecutive years of underwriting losses, with last year reaching a 16 year high where combined ratios reached 111.1%. At the same time, loss ratios remain elevated and despite an improvement to 77.9% in 2017 from 80.5% in 2013, the industry needs to see less than 70% to reach a break-even point. This has resulted in insurers taking excessive amounts of rate and resorting to extreme underwriting activities, including non-renewing of policies and exiting business lines altogether to try and combat these unprofitable trends. Here, we see several opportunities and benefits in using telematics solutions for fleets:
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For the insurer, there are many public reports and studies that demonstrate how using telematics in insurance products improve loss ratios which will help to improve overall underwriting profitability. Also, the ability to use better tools to predict a risk’s likelihood of being involved in a claim and to accurately calculate the risk’s insurance premiums is at the heart of telematics technology. Finally, we know that policyholders’ “like” telematics, and we’ve observed how policy retention numbers can improve when telematics is used as part of an insurance product.
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“FloowFleet uses The Floow’s class-leading scoring algorithm to analyze driving behaviors with the highest correlation to risk”
In addition, there are also a number of benefits for the fleet manager. These can be realized in terms of 3 key categories: savings, safety and security, and improved efficiency. •
form of fair, accurate risk assessment and corresponding pricing of insurance premiums. As a simple example, if a power unit is being
The commercial insurance market is primed for fleet solutions, and there is considerable market traction: •
•
•
•
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Aggregate market penetration of fleet operators using telematics to understand driver behavior and vehicle location is estimated to be between 40 and 60%. YoY growth of US insurance telematics in 2018 is around 25% with strong new business adoption rates. When compared to nontelematics policies, insurers are seeing higher retention numbers, better early-term loss results, and higher Net Promoter Scores. There is a lot of good news and appetite for commercial fleet telematics products; however, most solutions today are specific to large fleets and heavy-duty vehicles. The small commercial fleet market has been underserved and neglected for years and it is estimated that the micro and small fleet segments, where there are only 2-5 power units per fleet, is poised for the greatest growth in the coming years. It is estimated that the demand for commercial UBI in small fleet is 10 percent greater than the demand for UBI in personal lines.
There can be real cost savings in the
driven only 1 time per week, the risk exposure may be significantly less than a power unit that’s driven daily, and should be priced accordingly. •
Education and awareness helps to lower the overall risk and can improve driver’s safety behind the wheel. This helps to keep vehicles on the road and operational (which also enhances savings and efficiency), reduces the chance of deteriorating brand image associated with poor driving, and can keep employees safe and out of harm’s way.
•
Finally, fleet products can provide business tools to help improve the efficiency of the fleet such as vehicle location and geofencing.
Telematics can therefore play a critical role for commercial insurers, and the time is now for an affordable, flexible, reliable platform to offer UBI programs for these smaller fleets and light-duty vehicles. Fleet managers and insurers alike need a solution to proactively manage and reduce risk in this, a highly price sensitive market. In response to this need, we developed FloowFleet, a cost effective, turn-key risk
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“It is estimated that the demand for commercial UBI in small fleet is 10 percent greater than the demand for UBI in personal lines.�
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management platform, to help commercial lines insurers and fleet managers access the benefits telematics technology can deliver. And there’s never been a better time to focus on these benefits. Aimed at fleets of up to 25 light-duty vehicles, FloowFleet uses The Floow’s class-leading
scoring algorithm to analyze driving behaviors with the highest correlation to risk, allowing insurers to better manage their risk. It also helps fleet managers identify poor driving behaviors and address the problem at the source to reduce the chances of loss for both the business and the insurer. Through an easy to use, intuitive online portal, the fleet manager can keep track of all their vehicles as well as being informed of each driver’s score across four key areas: smooth driving, speed, fatigue and time of day. In addition, geofences can be set to alert the fleet manager if any of their vehicles enter or leave a designated area of their choosing. In addition, we have a strong roadmap of new features that are already in development, including, manager assigned curfews, crash/First Notice Of Loss alerts, an optional driver rewards program, and a driver-facing app to give vehicle operators timely visibility of their scores, which will be released over the coming months. Our unique approach to allowing our partners to
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“It also helps fleet managers identify poor driving behaviors and address the problem at the source to reduce the chances of loss for both the business and the insurer.”
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create their own Intellectual Property by building on our scores using their own claims data means there’s opportunity to create unique scores that are highly accurate and predictive across their book. This enables them to differentiate and innovate within their markets while creating a long-term, strategic asset. As such, we’re pleased to share that we’ve already signed up several leading insurance partners who welcome a much needed solution for their commercial policyholders.
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Photo from short-term.liberty.co.za
“Liberty Short-Term is aimed at the young professionals demographic so it was important that this proposition was extremely user-friendly�
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How We’re Helping to Build the Future of Insurance with Our Clients Article written by Claire Sargeant In August 2018, our Chief Operating Officer David James, was invited to join the UK Prime Minister Theresa May on her Africa trade mission. One stop on the trip was South Africa where the fintech industry is pioneering in the delivery of financial services to consumers through the use of technology and smartphones. While there, David had the opportunity to visit our client, South African financial services giant Liberty South Africa, allowing us to formally announce our partnership with them following the successful launch of their innovative telematics proposition, Liberty Short-Term Insurance, which incorporates The Floow’s telematics and scoring capability within it. Only available in South Africa, Liberty Short-Term underwritten by Standard Insurance Limited - is a pioneering insurtech proposition offering a range of personal lines insurance products which can be serviced entirely online from quote to purchase and beyond. This proposition with Liberty Short-Term is quite different to many other projects we have worked on over the past six years as it was conceived with an extremely strong focus on customer engagement at its heart, ensuring a seamless experience for the end-user delivered almost entirely via technology.
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For Liberty Short-Term Insurance Chief Executive, Marty Epstein, the aim with this proposition was to “revolutionize the short-term insurance market by making it quick, easy and accessible - all enabled by smart technology.” Liberty Short-Term is aimed at the young professionals demographic so it was important that this proposition was extremely user-friendly,
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taking the time and effort out of buying an insurance policy. The team at Liberty understood this and as a result, they started work on a chatbot which would be accessible via social media messaging platforms and could easily be added into the app to handle customer communications. The resulting chatbot allows app users to self-serve the insurance buying process by allowing them to receive a quote in a matter of minutes and handle any issues that arise throughout the duration of the policy quickly and efficiently. Drivers obtain their quote and authenticate their identity by using the chatbot to share and upload identity documents such as a driver’s license. With quote in hand, drivers have the opportunity to prove their safety behind the wheel by passing an initial ‘driver test’. This test requires drivers to record their trips in the app over the course of 300km. These trips are then measured by a set of robust driver scores to help identify those who qualify for a reduced quote based on their driving. The Floow’s scoring capability, FloowScore, is central to Liberty Short-Term as it provides driver scores for the test and it is this data science and scoring experience which sits within the app, collecting trip data and providing unique insights to the driver about their behavior behind the wheel. We measure a number of areas including the driver’s level of distraction and how aggressive their driving style is by monitoring speed and smoothness of driving. The Floow’s Data Science team has worked on some unique scoring
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for this client alongside their actuarial leads, based around the specific driving style of South African motorists and calibrated to local driving conditions. Throughout the initial driving test, the driver receives regular feedback from Liberty ShortTerm’s chatbot to help and encourage them to pass the test through improvements to their driving behavior. Once the driver records over 300km of trips, they receive a competitively priced insurance premium and if they sign up for a policy, they will continue to receive useful feedback and tips from the chatbot as well as having the opportunity to earn rewards, such as Uber vouchers, for continued safe driving. The use of the chatbot in their solution has been a great way for Liberty South Africa to stay ahead of the market as insurers increasingly look for ways to boost engagement with insurance and telematics-based propositions. According to the 2018/19 report by Insurance Innovators on The Future of General Insurance, 76% of insurers and brokers questioned expect chatbots to guide customers through processes in five years time, while currently only 23% of insurers and brokers offer this capability. Around 66% of those questioned also expect chatbots to provide advice on product selection in five years time, while 62% expect them to handle claims. However 21% and 14% respectively are already offering these solutions in some capacity to their customers. Those who have already adopted this technology, such as Liberty South
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“This telematics-based personal lines insurance proposition is the first in a range of products to be launched, and we are delighted with the capability and partnership that The Floow has brought to making this happen.”
Africa, are ensuring that they stay ahead of the
Marty Epstein, Chief Executive at Liberty Short-Term Insurance
customer satisfaction and a 33% saving per voice
curve by offering services which can change the user experience for the better. In the same report, they quote global research and advisory firm, Gartner, who believe that 25% of customer service and support operations will integrate chatbot technology by 2020, up from less than two per cent in 2017. They report that “organizations that have already implemented the technology reporting a reduction of up to 70% in call, chat and/or email inquiries, increased engagement.” In all the insurer conversations we have it’s clear that there’s a recognition around the importance of creating propositions which are not only engaging but are also simple to use. Our insurance partners are focusing on making the whole insurance process faster and more convenient for busy consumers while also improving what can be a complicated and lengthy experience, particularly when it comes to making a claim. It has been fantastic to work so closely with Liberty South Africa on this proposition and to learn together in close partnership. As we continue our focus on creating engaging experiences for the end-user, we will take what we have learned from our work with Liberty to improve our offering for clients and end-users to ensure that the customer experience is engaging, efficient and seamless for every single telematicsbased policyholder.
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CHICAGO
Photo by Serge Kutuzov on Unsplash
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The Floow at Connected Car Insurance USA, Chicago Article written by Nathan George
The Floow team enjoyed another busy and exciting week at this year’s Connected Car Insurance USA conference and exhibition back in September, which took place in Chicago. The annual event brought together over 130 insurers, automakers and leading connected car experts to discuss next generation insurance products and services, with telematics at the cornerstone of the conversation. We spent the entire show meeting with both existing partners and new prospects to discuss our world-leading telematics solutions.
Distracted Driving and Driver Scoring At the conference, there was a general recognition that the most significant predictor of risk is distracted driving, which has led to a definite shift towards using smartphones as a sensor; if you want the most powerful predictor of driving risk, you have to be able to capture distracted driving. Our class-leading scoring system uses distraction as one of the five key components we monitor to create an overall driverrisk score. At The Floow, we take this one step further; not only do we capture the
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behavioral data around distracted driving, we contextually enrich it, which means we can not only predict risk, we can reduce it, through both driver feedback or using our proprietary coaching program, FloowCoach.
in connected claims and First Notification of Loss. This is an area where we’re lazer focused and I’m excited about the forthcoming solutions we’ll bring to market in the coming weeks.
Data Collection Using Smartphones and Bluetooth Beacons
The Growth of Commercial Lines Insurance Telematics
As the use of smartphones continues to grow, so does interest in Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology and using video to leverage telematics data. With over 90% of bluetooth enabled smartphones already supporting BLE, its applications for car sharing and asset tracking are likely to see similar growth.
Finally, there was reinforcement of the commercial automotive need for quality telematics solutions to help them buck the trend they are experiencing in underwriting losses. This is something that The Floow has been working towards with our recently launched FloowFleet product; a cost effective, turn-key risk management platform aimed at small fleets of up to 25 vehicles. You can learn more about FloowFleet on page 13.
With so much new technology allowing telematics to have an even greater benefit to insurers, it’s clear they are now starting to think about enterprise-wide telematics strategies to leverage the learnings across both personal and commercial lines insurance.
Building IP Around Driver Scoring Unlike other providers, The Floow allows our partners to build upon our trusted scoring and technology platform to create their own IP. This approach to partnership has proven very attractive to the companies we work with, enabling them to differentiate and innovate within their markets...and it’s completely unique to the industry!
Crash Detection & Notification Another notable trend we observed was related to helping insurers tackle claims as part of the insurance telematics offer. There was a strong interest and curiosity
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In this fast-evolving market, our insurance partners and prospects shared with us their opinion of how The Floow continues to lead the way in developing pioneering telematics products and services that meet their increasingly challenging and sophisticated needs and those of their policyholders. A high-point of the overall event for us was when we were joined by our friends and partners at the residence of John Saville the UK Consul General - for dinner. The food was great, the views (when the weather cooperated) were spectacular and the conversation and company were amazing. We will most likely make this an annual event. We look forward to developing our client relationships by effectively managing their risk while delivering a first-class user experience for their policyholders in an ever changing insurance market.
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The Floow US Team At The Floow, we think it’s important to know our partners and their businesses so we can deliver the best possible products and service for their programs. We also believe it is extremely important for our partners to get to know the people they’ll be working with every day. With that in mind, we invite you to meet our US team who have skills across business development, client relationship management, client success and driver behavior. Our US team is supported by our 100+ strong team based in Sheffield, UK, where our research, development and technology teams work.
www.thefloow.com
Connect with John
John Kramer Vice President
As Vice President of our North America operations, John leads our business strategy focusing on delivering great partnerships with our US clients. Previously, John was Director of Business Development and Customer Success for a leading telematics firm and he spent over a decade at a top-10 US insurer spearheading UBI pilot and production. John holds an English degree from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania and he is a regular industry blogger and speaker on the future of telematics and ‘connected life’.
Who is your idol? Although I am a die-hard Celtics fan, I am a great admirer of Magic Johnson. After leaving the NBA as a 5X champ, 3X league MVP and considered to be one of the greatest players of all time, Magic reinvented himself as an entrepreneur. His Magic Johnson Enterprises is a billion dollar company and he has diverse investments in companies such as AsPire and Starbucks (where he owned over 100 stores at one time). He’s also President of Basketball operations for the Lakers (and was a key contributor to getting Lebron James to move into the Western Conference). Further, he’s a great philanthropist and activist.
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Photo by Catherine Hughes on Unsplash
Connect with Nathan
Nathan George
Dave Huber
For over 10 years, Nathan has worked in sales, business development and product management roles in the insurance telematics space working with some of the largest insurers across the US and the world. Prior to this, Nathan worked for various startups in California while studying for a degree in the philosophy of religion. In 2009, he went back to school to complete an MBA at Georgia Tech.
Dave has spent most of his career in Insurtech as well as working for a number of insurers, TSPs and mobility providers across the US developing and delivering telematics solutions. Dave has a BS in Math from Clemson University and a SC MS in Management from Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta.
Director of Business Development
Who is your idol? I have always greatly admired Martin Luther. He courageously stood for the truth at the risk of his life. He could hold his own with the intellectual giants of his day such as Erasmus and loved music and entertaining people in his home. He also had a rather earthy sense of humor and was quick with scatalogical retorts. In the list of people I admire, he would be at the top, right beside Captain Kirk.
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Connect with Dave
Client Development Director
Who is your idol? I have lots of admiration for teachers. Most would agree. Yet they are often underpaid, overworked and, in the moment, under-appreciated. Teachers do so much more than teach; They challenge, they love, they listen and they serve. I’m grateful for my teachers and appreciate all teachers.
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Connect with Christina
Connect with Beckie
Christina Presnar
Beckie Gates
Christina worked in social services with at-risk children before switching professions in 2012, to join a Top 10 US insurer where she provided
Before joining The Floow, Beckie worked for a Top 20 insurance company as an IT project manager where she gained 20+ years experience
support and ensured customer success with their telematics programs. Christina has a Bachelors of Science in Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh and she is currently pursuing an MBA in Information Systems Management.
building applications and providing support for personal lines, insurance policy systems, claims handling, data warehousing and CRM systems. Beckie also worked on one of the first mobile UBI products launched in the US.
Who is your idol?
Who is your idol?
Herb Kelleher did a tremendous job of turning Southwest Airlines into what it is today. He is accredited with creating a well-known corporate culture that helped to create the light-hearted and funny inflight announcements so many of us have come to appreciate and enjoy. Kelleher believed in people. He’s quoted as saying, “If employees aren’t satisfied, they won’t promote the product we need.” His contagious character and spirit has lead him to be hailed by Fortune magazine as the best CEO in America. Kelleher is an idol to me, not because he’s someone I imagine myself being like, but because he’s someone I’d like to work for. I see so many of his traits woven through our culture, which is what drew me to The Floow in the first place. I’m happy to work for a company that values people.
The life of Mahatma Gandhi always motivates me. His lifelong work for civil rights and freedom across the world, through passive resistance, was inspirational. He sought truth throughout his life by constant learning and change.
Client Development Manager / FloowCoach Lead
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Program Manager, North America
On a more personal level, my brother is a great influence to me. He is a retired firefighter and embodies all the heroic traits of that profession. I strive to be like him in courage, patience and respectful caring for other people. As much as I admire him, we still steer clear of political discussions!
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Connect with Brian
Brian Mendralla
Cindy Bylsma
Brian started his career in retail with a large telecoms provider before moving in to the mobile solutions side of their business where he worked for almost 11 years. Before joining The Floow, Brian spent seven years as a Senior Project Manager at a leading insurance telematics and vehicle tracking solutions firm providing solutions to insurers across the globe.
Cindy has over 20 years experience as a Business Analyst in various industries, including food safety and health care, collaborating with stakeholders as well as working with clients and technical teams to design and implement solutions for their business. Cindy is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science.
Who is your idol?
Who is your idol?
My idol growing up was Michael Jordan. He was arguably the greatest player of all time in the NBA and a tremendous competitor. I used to watch every Bulls game growing up and would strive to be like him on the court. To this day, he is the wealthiest athlete to ever play in any sport and continues to grow his wealth. He’s a 90% owner in the Charlotte Hornets which has quadrupled in value since he’s bought them. Overall, he’s always been an inspiration on and off the court!
Grace Hopper and Katherine Johnson were mathematicians and pioneers in the computer science field. Hopper developed the compiler as well as FORTRAN and COBOL computer languages and many software developers thank her for where we are today. It is thought she coined the term “bug”, synonymous with software bugs, when she squashed the first computer bug on work she was writing.
Business Analyst
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Connect with Cindy
Business Analyst
Johnson worked at NASA where she was hired to solve math problems. In the movie “Hidden Figures”, she went to the local library, found a book on FORTRAN and wrote software showing men how to do it! These women have made contributions to the world which have influenced me and my life.
DRIVEN MAGAZINE
DRIVEN MAGAZINE
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The Floow North America 20300 Superior Rd. Suite 250 Taylor, MI 48180 USA +1 855 447 9252 info@thefloow.com
Quarterly Magazine by The Floow
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